By Ken Afor
Nasarawa and Cross Rivers States got more than any other from the N135.4 billion allocated to states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) by the federal government after undergoing the second Independent Assessment of Results from the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus.
Dr. Abdulkarim Obaje, the National Coordinator of NG-CARES Programme, released a statement via Suleiman Odapu, the Information and Communication Officer at NG-CARES, on Sunday.
The World Bank is lending a helping hand to Nigeria’s most underserved communities by providing $750m of monetary aid for the NG-CARES initiative, an emergency relief programme designated to assist those impoverished and vulnerable due to the hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically targeting smallholder farmers and Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
Obaje stated that the amounts allocated to each state and the FCT depend on their level of success in helping the disadvantaged through the NG-CARES program.
Nasarawa, Cross Rivers and Zamfara stood out in the second round of the programme assessment, accumulating N13.6bn, N10.9bn and N10.2bn respectively, which was pointed out by him.
”The top three best-performing states in this Second Round of Assessment are Nasarawa which earned N13,697,828,496.96, Cross River N10,944,747,818.84, and Zamfara N10,231,055,267.82.
“This is a milestone achievement in the efforts of President Bola Tinubu’s administration at providing funds towards addressing multidimensional poverty in the country,” Obaje noted.
The Minister for Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, deservedly received praises for his proficient coordination of the NG-CARES programme, which included involvement from both states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The national coordinator also lauded the support from state governors, the FCT minister, and the World Bank.
It would be recalled in January 2022 during launch of the NG-CARES by the former Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, the programme which is a loan from the World Bank is a $750 million intervention fund for the country expected to run for two years between 2021 and 2023.
“The World Bank loan is in the order of $750m and this will be over two years (2021-2023); the intervention allocation to each state is $20m and $15m to the FCT; there is also $15m for the Federal Cares Support Unit,” Osinbajo stated during the launch of the initiative.
